Preparing for the professional world: are your students ready?

As an education or training provider, it’s your responsibility to ensure that your students and charges leave more prepared for the rigors of the working world than when they first came to you. Naturally, this requires more than simply teaching them from a curriculum. Universities, educational establishments and training providers are increasingly ranked due to their successes in producing students who go straight into the professional world and rankings aside, most educators will want to give their students the best possible chance to flourish as professionals. So how can you best prepare your students for the professional world? Are they really going to be ready once they’ve graduated? Take a look at our expert career support advice and see for yourself...

Skills and qualifications

Of course, the bare minimum that your students should leave with are the skills and qualifications that they signed up for in the first place. Bear in mind, however, that a competitive job market is robbing even the most prestigious qualifications of their cachet. Your students will not only be competing with all the other students from their class to graduate with the same skills and qualifications, but with every other student from every other comparative course in the country, plus those from previous years! Higher education is no longer a golden ticket to high earning, professional jobs, so you need to do more in order to help your students stand out.

Attitude and expectations

Adjusting your students’ attitude and expectations before they graduate or qualify is vital. While some education and training providers differ from others, the structure and requirements of a professional workplace are often far removed from the academic work. Your students must be prepared for early starts and hours of hard work, without the flexibility offered by higher education. The job search process, too, requires strict self-motivation and consistent application. Ensuring that your students are prepared for these new challenges will help them to enjoy more success in the professional world.

Experience and preparation

One of the best ways to prepare your students for the changes wrought by the professional world is to ensure that they have experience of full time work before they graduate / qualify. Many educators include work experience modules in their term requirements in order to encourage their students to become acclimatised to the workplace, and these modules can be extremely helpful for the long term success of your students. Many companies now offer unpaid internships that, while sometimes controversial, can help to provide your students with valuable skills and experience. Encouraging your students to take on an internship alongside their academic studies can be extremely helpful for their future prospects.

Searching and opportunities

The actual job search process itself is the time when many students falter. The current UK job market is highly competitive, and searching for appropriate positions, tailoring applications and waiting for responses can be time consuming and disheartening. Fortunately, there are services available that can help your students better prepare for their professional lives and perfect the application process, too. Our career support and outplacement services are designed to give students the insights, the knowledge and the confidence they need to make a splash in the workplace, regardless of their industry. Why not take a look at our approach for affinity partners to see how we work, or contact us to find out how our career management services can benefit your education or training institution this year?

Renovo is one of the UK’s leading providers of outplacement and career transition support. We work with both organisations and individuals to support all their career transition requirements. If you would like to understand how Renovo can help you please call 0800 612 2011 or email info@renovo.co.uk